Garment gripper for pressing machines



Sept. 12, 1950 Filed June 15, 1947 l. EPSTEIN GARMENT GRIPPER FOR PRESSING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fla. 1.

ATTORNEY INVEN TOR. IRVING EPSTE/N Sept. 12, 1950 Filed June 13, 1947 l. EPSTEIN GARMENT GRIPPER FOR PRESSING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N V EN TOR. m VIA/6 EPS TEl/V ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 12, 1950 Irving Epstein Brighton, N. Y.

i Application June 13, 1947, Serial No. 754,456

I 5 Claims.

The present invention relates to the stretching and shaping of garments and particularly to a device for holding a garment on a. standard pressing machine while it is being stretched or shaped.

When a garment, particularly a woolen or ray on garment is dyed, it tends to shrink and sometimesto get out of shape. It has to be stretched and re-shaped, therefore, before it is returned to the customer. Heretofore, re-shaping "and stretching have been hand operations. The garrnentis placed on the lower buck or board of a standard steam pressing machineand the oper ator, reaching across this lower board, takes hold of one side or one end of the garment'with one hand and while turning the steam on so that it penetrates 'the garment, pulls 'on the garment with his other hand to stretch and re-shape it. To prevent burning the .hand with which he is holding the garment, the-operator uses ordinarily a protective glove. Of course, the operator can only pull the garment at one point at a time' and he has to continuously shift his gripping point and his point of pull to stretch'the garment evenly along its whole length and-to re-shape it properly. -It requires considerable skill to re-shape andstretch properly a long garment, such as a dress or coat, because the operator has to 'take hold of the garment successively at quitea number of different points along the length of the garment'and successively pull at the corresponding opposite points in order to securethe stretch ing and re-shaping desired? Moreover, thishand operation is time-consuming and expensive. 7

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a device adapted for use ina pressing machine which will hold a garment along the whole length of one side during stretching'or shaping thereof and which will obviate manual holding and the repeated'shifting of the manual grip that has been required'in prior practice, 1

Another object of the invention is to provide V a garment holder for use on pressing machines," which will grip and hold a garment and leaveboth to hold a garment during stretching or shaping of the garment.

Still anotherrobject of'the invention is to pro vide a device which can be inserted between the upper and lower bucks orboards of a'standard pressing machine to hold a garmentin themaa z chine while the garment is being pulled .to stretch or shape it, and which will be of simple construction, relatively cheap, and'yet which will be practical to use and have a relatively long life.

.Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a conventional steam pressing machine, showing the upper buck or board in raised position and a coat, which is to be stretched or shaped, lying on the lower board or buck, with two of the garment holders of. the present invention laid thereon in position to hold the garment when the upper buck is lowered;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the pressing machine showing the upper buck lowered to bring and hold the gripping devices in gripping engagement with the garment;

.Fig; 3 is a perspective view of a garment holder made according to the preferred embodiment of this invention, part being broken away to show in section the internal structure of the garment holder; and i Fig. 4 is a view, partly in section, showing one step in the manufacture of the garment holder.

A garment holder made according to the present invention is preferably made in the form of elongatedroll. It is flexible and somewhat elastic or'compressible. It may be made in any suitable length and diameter.- For the conventional pressing machine it is usual to make the holders in two lengths, one length approximately the length of the lower buck or board of the machine and the other length being slightly greater than the width of this lower buck or board. It has been found that one and an eighth inches makes a suitable diameter for theholders. The garment,-,:which is to be stretched or shaped is placed on theilower buck or board, and a garment holder or holders placed along an edge or edges of the Here '30 designates. the pedestal or stand portionof a conventional steam pressing machine. 3| is the table of this machine, and 32 is the lower buck orboard. This is supported above the table 3| y a column or post 33; Y

The upper buck or board of the machine is denoted at 35. This is mounted upon an arm 36 that is pivoted to the upright at the rear of the machine. 3'1 denotes a hand grip that is mounted in arms 38 that are secured by bolts 39 to the upper buck 35. This hand grip can be grasped to lower the upper buck and to increase the pressure thereon. Foot pedals 40, M and 42 are provided in; the .;.base= of the. machine-"t .oontrol the steam and thepressure on the upper buck when it is lowered.

To stretch a coat, such as shown at G, for in grips 10 along the length of the garment atone edge thereof and another shorter grip it along one end of the garment, for instance, therbottom end, as shown in Fig. l. The garment holders are elongated flexible rolls which in normal, released position are substantially cylindrical in shape. When garmentand garment holders arein position, the-operator lowers the upper buck and by pressing the appropriate foot pedal applies pressure tothe garment grips H1 and N! to hold the: garment G securely between the upper and lower bucks-.1 At the time by 'pressingi'the appropriate foot pedal heturns on the steam to steam the garment as he holds it. Then with his two hands he canpull the free edge .of the garment sidewise or lengthwise-to stretch and shape thesanre- By readjusting the garment and the grips he can stretch and .re -shape "the garment until itv has the desired size: and shape.

The. grips or garment holders ofv the present invention, leave the operator with both hands free to pull and stretch the garment. Moreover, theyall'ow the gripping force of the press itself to be exerted. to hold. the garment while it. be-- ing stretched and shaped. Further, the grips of the present invention permit of holding the. garment along the whole of its length atone time so th'atxthe' operator can pull and stretch. the garment along its whole length simultaneousy. This is a very appreciable advantage over the old method in which the operator was only able to hold the garment. with one hand at one place alongitsi length. and pull. the garment at the opposite side to stretch the same. The operatorhad then to reshitt his grip repeatedly in order to stretch the garment and shape it as desired. Further than this,.with the old method, the. operator was not able to hold. the garment as securely as it. can be held by the pressing machine so that he-iwas not able to exert as much pulling pressure. By using two or more" grips simultaneously, as shown in Fig. I, the operator is able to stretch the garment longitudinally and laterally in asingle set-up, which again savestime.

A preferred construction for the garment hold-- ers oi this invention is shownin Figs. 3. and 4.

Here the garment holder or roll Hl= comprises an outer covering. H- made of drill or other suitable oottoirorlinen cloth and a filler I2.

The material of the outsideenvelope H is preferably cut on the bias to prevent. its stretching and to hold its shape. The edges and ends of the envelope are: sewed together, the stitching along the length of the roll being indicated at I5 and atone end at 16.

The filler is preferably a quilted material. like that; ordinarily employed for. the covering of pressing machines, which 'is rolled 'intoa spiral roll that is inserted into the envelope or casing II. This filler may consist of elongated rolls of cloth l3 filled with cotton and sewed together as indi,-'

4 cated at Hi. This gives strength and resilience to the filler and the filler will not compact and become hard as would cotton batting or a simple cotton stuffing.

To secure the necessary firmness in the roll with resilience, the roll of stufiing or filler l2 used is of a normal expanded diameter considerably in excess of the diameter of the filled roll.

-. To get the} filler into its cajsing. H va piece of brass tubing 29 having a flared end 2| may be used. The casing material I I, having been sewed together to form the envelope, is telescoped onto the outside; of this tube 20 and the filler I2 is fed into the tube through the flared end 2| thereof.

As the filler enters the casing I l, the casing is fed off of the tube, and when the casing has been completely'filled. the open end thereof is sewed around the filler.

The structure of the garment holders described gives them resilience and long life. They compress to oval. shape'under pressure of the upper buck, as shown at the right in Fig. 2, thus provi'ding a broad gripping surface, but when the pressure is released,- they take their substantially cylindrical shapes again.

'While the invention has been illustrated and described particularly with reference to the stretching-andshaping of garments, it will be on derstood thatv itpmayrbe employed in connection with the stretching of various articles made of. fabrics. Thus it has been used for shaping and stretchin slip-covers, drapes and. other household articles." It is not limited to the stretching and shaping of articles of personal wear.

While: the invention has. been illustrateduin' connection with the use 'of two garment holders simultaneously, .it will-be. understood that one or more may. be; used at atime as desired- It will further be understood. that while the inven-- tion has been described in connection with a particular embodiment thereof, it is capable of fur-- ther modification, and this application is intended to cover any variations,v uses, or adaptations of the invention following, :in general, the principlesof the invention and including such departures.- from the present disclosure as come within known. or'customary practice in' the art to which the iii-- ventionpertains and as maybe applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth and asfall within the scope. of theinvention or the: limits of the appended claims.

Having thusdescribed my invention, what. I claim is:

' l. A devicefor' use in holding work in a platen- 1 type garment-pressing machine having an upper the device, the device: will clamp the garment'with gripping engagement localized along said edge or the garmenti- 2. A device for use in holding workin a-platentype. garment-pressing machine having upper and lower bucks, said device comprising a com pletely closed fabric envelopaanda resilient fillerthEIY'EfOIZSaiH'. device being adapted to be placed upona garment along one edge thereof, after the garment has been disposed on the lower'bu'ck, so that when thefupper buck is'pressed into engagealongsaid; edgevofthe garment.

3, A device for use in holding work in a platentype arment-pressing machine having upper and lower bucks, said device comprising an elongated, resilient roll which comprises an elongated envelope and a cotton filler therefor, said envelope being completely closed, said device being adapted to be placed upon a garment along one edge thereof, after the garment has been disposed on the lower :buck, so that when the upper buck is pressed into engagement with the device, the device will clamp the garment with a gripping engagement localized along said edge of the garment.

4. A device for use in holding work in a platentype garment-pressing machine having upper and lower bucks, said device comprising an elongated, resilient roll which comprises an elongated fabric envelope and a quilted cotton filler therefor, said envelope being completely closed, and said filler being of a normal diameter greater than the internal diameter of the envelope, said device being adapted to be placed upon a garment along one edge thereof, after the garment has been disposed on the lower buck, so that when the upper buck is pressed into engagement with the device, the device will clamp the garment with a grippin engagement localized along said edge of the garment.

5. A device for use in holdin work in a platentype garment-pressing machine having upper and lower bucks, said device comprising a completely closed fabric envelope, the material of which is cut on the bias, and a filler for said envelope made of a quilted material rolled in a spiral roll, the diameter of said spiral roll being normally greater than the internal diameter of the envelope, said device being adapted to be placed upon a garment along one edge thereof, after the garment has been disposed on the lower buck, so that when the upper buck is pressed into engagement with the device, the device will clamp the garment with a grippin engagement localized along said edge of the garment.

IRVING EPSTEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 271,624 Goff Feb. 6, 1883 1,271,266 Bearmore July 2, 1918 1,372,183 Metcalf et a1 Mar. 22, 1921 1,429,401 Braley Sept. 19, 1922 1,558,946 Tedford Oct. 27, 1925 1,690,846 Turner Nov. 6, 1928 1,763,816 Pauly et a1. June 17, 1930 1,866,553 Eskandarian July 1, 1932 2,107,457 Buhler Feb. 8, 1938 2,207,043 Weiss et a1, July 9, 1940 2,280,720 Rumbaugh Apr. 21, 1942 

